Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Program
Department of Pathology Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center 1275 York Avenue New York, NY 10065 Arisleyda Infante 212-639-7102 ☀infanta1@mskcc.org Nadia Tilden 212-639-7456 tildenn@mskcc.org No Pathology Residency Program Offered. Oncologic Surgical Pathology Fellowship 'Comment 1:' (Posted 7-20-12) for those who are interested in oncologic surgical pathology fellowship program there are something you should know before applying. there are attendings who are notoriously difficult to deal with. the director is a total b**ch. Once you are in her bad book (often for no reason) you will stay for the entire year. Note from Admin: The above comment is one person's opinion. Although negative, it should not be deleted in the spirit of free speech. If you disagree with this comment, feel free to post opposing viewpoints under "comment 3" below. 'Comment 2:' (Posted 8-9-12) This fellowship has been dramatically changed since the days of "excessive grossing." The program has gone to great lengths to improve the educational experience for the fellows. The fellows now gross a total of 3 weeks for the entire year. They get 3 weeks of dedicated frozen section experience. For more information, visit the website http://www.mskcc.org/education/fellowships/pathology 'Comment 3:' (Posted 6/28/13) Comment 1 should not be taken seriously. I just finished this fellowship, and I can say confidently that every fellow in my class and every alumnus I've met has overwhelmingly positive things to say. The fellowship has improved dramatically over the years. For example, fellows used to be overwhelmed with daily grossing responsibilities on top of previewing responsibilities. Currently, as mentioned in the prior comment, fellows have only three weeks dedicated to grossing. As the gross room is fully staffed with PAs, there is no true need for fellows to gross anymore. Instead, the grossing rotation is used to give the fellows experience in grossing complex specimens. The fellow is only expected to gross around five or six specimens per day and is not expected to stay past 6 pm. The fellowship has even improved significantly over the course of my year thanks to the responsive efforts of the program director. For example, early in the year, the cutoff for release of slides from the lab was changed from 8 pm to 7 pm, allowing fellows to leave earlier. Also, up until this year, there were only two computers in the fellows room that had access to the electronic medical record. Now, every fellow has access to the electronic medical record from his/her own desk, as it should be. A lot of residents are nervous to apply to this program because of the reputation of long work hours. This reputation does not really apply anymore. On many rotations, the fellow can leave by around 7 pm. On the lightest rotations (3 weeks elective, 3 weeks grossing), the fellow can leave by 5 or 6. On the busiest rotations (maybe 12 or 15 weeks out of the year), the fellow could approach 80 hours; however, the program is ACGME accredited and strict about adherence to work hours policy. Personally, the most I worked was maybe 75 hours, and that was only a few weeks out of the year. There were no significant sacrifices in my personal life. In terms of personalities, the attendings at MSKCC, including the program director, are some of kindest. Overall, the teaching is outstanding, both from the well-known world's experts and the younger attendings. The fellows who come here, likely a result of selection by these attendings, are also a wonderful group of people to work closely with over the course of a year. All in all, the oncologic surg path fellowship at MSKCC remains arguable the best program to learn cancer pathology and now also allows for a decent work-life balance. There continues to be a strong sense of pride in MSKCC pathology, and the fellows who come through here become part of that community. The fellowship will only continue to improve thanks to our amazing program director. 'Comment 4:' (Posted 8/14/14) Comment No. 1 is a joke. I did this fellowship recently. It was an outstanding year. Wonderful group of attendings and fellows. Great teaching from the world experts in the different fields of Surgical Pathology. As mentioned in comments 2 and 3, this fellowship have changed tremendously in the recent years. Much less grossing, which is now just 3 weeks, and it only involves the complicated and interesting cases. Now there is more balance between clinical service and teaching, compared to previous years. The sign-out sessions are great. High quality lectures and slides sessions are given every day. I learned alot during this year. I would highly recommend it. Molecular Diagnostics Fellowship Breast Pathology Fellowship International Breast Pathology Fellowship Cytopathology Fellowship Dermatopathology Fellowship 'Comment 1:' "Cornell/Sloan Kettering have two spots, which rotate through both programs. Also can be competitive, and also open for path and derm trained (usually one of each)" (quoted from caffeinegirl on studentdoctor.net) Gastrointestinal Pathology Fellowship Genitourinary Pathology Fellowship Gynecologic Pathology Fellowship Hematopathology Fellowship Thoracic Pathology Fellowship